The revealing nude yoga class featured on E!'s "Kourtney and Kim Take New York" reality show was the impetus that prompted Kardashian's 72-day-husband Kris Humphries to head back to Minnesota.

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November 28, 2011

by

Elizabeth Snead

Attention, all Kardashian doubters who watched the Sunday season premiere of Kourtney & Kim Take New York and didn't believe what was viewed: There really is a thing called Hot Naked Yoga. In fact, it's probably more real than anything else that happened on the show last night.

The show featured Kris Humphries storming into and blowing up at his new wife Kim Kardashian over a HNY class being taught in their home by a shockingly naked dread-locked yogi. This subsequent argument made tthe phrase Hot Nude Yoga go viral today.

But the classes -- a mini-phenomenon in the gay community -- have actually been around for over two years. Celebrity yogi Aaron Star, the man credited with creating Hot Naked Yoga, mostly male only classes of sensualized tantric yoga, opened his HNY studios in New York and West Hollywood, California a few years ago and now has studios in Boston, Dallas and even Chicago. They've even been mentioned on Saturday Night Live.

For HNY classes, you can forget the fancy yoga duds. All you need is your birthday suit and a mat. Maybe a towel. Or two.

Some critics of HNY argue that yoga is about freeing the mind from earthly things and that's pretty hard to do when there are ahem, bare naked earthly distractions right in your face.

But Star and his admittedly predominantly gay practitioners insist that the practice is all about fitness. Although there is a lot of partner work involved, it's sensual, not sexual. Star insists that straight men will feel comfortable in his classes. Well, except for maybe one 72-day-husband.